Peony karakusa tsuba
Executed in "nanban style" openwork with chiseled and gold-encrusted peonies.
Sawasa style iron guard
Unusual piece with depiction of a foreign figure.
Iron chrysanthemum tsuba
Large example with gold and silver overlay.
Unusual dragon gate guard
Asian sword guard of unknown origin, modified in Japan.
Japanese tsuba in Canton style
Also known as Kwanto-gata, with two facing dragon chasing a pearl.
Daruma tsuba
A peculiar tsuba with a depiction of Bodhidharma and two dragon chasing a pearl.
Wan-gata tsuba by Kunihiro
Its outer surface is decorated with interlocking swastikas and family crests.
Nanako (魚子/斜子)
The Japanese name for punched, dotted surface finishes on metal.
Shakudō (赤銅)
A Japanese alloy containing copper and gold.
Rooster fight kozuka
Executed in gold and silver on a shakudō nanako base, with golden back.
Nanban kogai & kozuka set (futakoromono)
The only set of its type known to me in both private and museum collections.
Ainu sword hilt
Made of wood, with a silver ornamental fitting of remarkable workmanship.
Ainu sword in Japanese polish
Exceedingly rare Ainu sword. Comes in an old Japanese collection box.
Sawasa
A term used for colonial Asian metalwork in black and gold.
Kankyûtô (貫級刀/貫首刀)
Japanese word for a samurai tool.
An Edo period kankyûtô
A double-edged samurai tool with morbid origins.
Kozuka (小柄)
Japanese name of a small utility knife worn in sword and dagger scabbards.
Signed nakago kozuka
A by-knife for a Japanese sword, with a hilt shaped like a sword tang.
Kusari zukin (鎖頭巾)
Japanese name for the hood of a mail armor set.
Kusari katabira (鎖帷子)
Japanese name for a jacket of mail armor.
Kusari gusoku (鎖具足)
Japanese word for mail armor.
Kusari (鎖)
Japanese word for "chain", also used to describe mail armor.